Jim Donnan and Central Florida coach Mike Kruczek have joined the list of candidates who have opted not to coach at Kentucky, while the status of Mississippi coach David Cutcliffe was more vague Friday.

Donnan was offered the Wildcats' coaching job earlier in the week but turned it down, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Friday. When reached, Donnan -- a college football analyst for ESPN.com -- did not want to comment.

The newspaper report also said Donnan refused to comment, but that other sources close to the situation said an offer had been made to the former Georgia coach.

Central Florida posted a statement on its Web site late Thursday saying Kruczek was no longer a candidate for the job. Kentucky athletics director Mitch Barnhart approached the 49-year-old Kruczek about the position last week.

A different source close to the UK search said Barnhart noted on Wednesday that the successor to Guy Morriss would likely be an "off the charts" candidate, a name that had not surfaced in previous speculation about the vacancy. The source said that one name which has surfaced in the last 48 hours was that of Grambling head coach Doug Williams.

Williams has resurrected the Grambling program and has a 44-15 record there, including a 12-2 mark this season.

Donnan, 57, coached in the SEC for five seasons at Georgia from 1996-2000, where he compiled a 40-19 career record, including 4-0 in bowl games. Donnan's best season was 1997, when the Bulldogs went 10-2 and defeated Wisconsin in the Outback Bowl.

There is some speculation that Donnan might be a candidate to join Bill Parcells' staff in Dallas if "The Tuna" accepts the Cowboys job. Donnan and Parcells were both on the Florida State coaching staff in the early 1970s and have stayed close since then. Assuming that Parcells becomes the Cowboys' next head coach, he will have a difficult time assembling a staff comprised of his former NFL assistants, since most are now working for other teams in the league.

Barnhart said he also contacted Cutcliffe last week. Cutcliffe was in Shreveport, La., Friday for the Independence Bowl between Ole Miss and Nebraska. He brushed off reporters after arriving at the stadium.

When asked for comment about the rumors that he continues to be a candidate to leave Mississippi for Kentucky, he said, "Don't bother me with that stuff right now.''

Mississippi AD Pete Boone said Friday that he and Cutcliffe hadn't spoken about the coach's possibility of leaving for Kentucky since Saturday, when the school issued a statement saying Cutcliffe was not a candidate for the Wildcats' job. In the statement, Cutcliffe was quoted as saying he would stay at Mississippi.

Boone said he would be surprised if Cutcliffe left.

"I thought it was a dead issue,'' Boone said before the Independence Bowl.

Earlier in the week, Southern California offensive coordinator Norm Chow pulled out of the running, and the Louisville Courier reported Friday that Central Florida's Kruczek also withdrew his name from the list.

So it looks like it's back to the drawing board in the search for a replacement for Morriss, who left the Wildcats last week to take over Baylor's program.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.